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  Knighter
wins 4th Tough One
David Knight took a break from his GNCC training schedule to defend his Wor Events Tough One title this weekend at Nantmawr Quarry near Oswestry but the Knighter was to receive a challenge from an unexpected quarter. Michael Brown from Scarborough won the Trials Sprint on a Beta Uk 270. He also won a wildcard entry in the main event with the possibility of winning an additional £1000 for the leader at the halfway point - an opportunity he would make the most of. The organisers decision to charge per vehicle eased the parking in the quarry whilst accommodating a crowd that topped 5000 amongst which there were many familiar faces. Muntjac CoC Andy Waters traveled all the way from Thetford & another interested spectator was Geriant Jones who will soon be devising his own extreme test for the Hafren World Enduro Championship round in July.
The Tough One started at 3.30. To stagger the Pro class, race director Steve Ireland had the riders fit a tyre before starting. Several Pros went with trials tyres on the rear. Wayne Braybrook was only rider to opt to fit a front tyre & he was the first rider away. Whilst the field stopped to polish the climb out of the quarry, expert Kev Rogers tried to develop a new line through the boulders. It turned into a long term plan. Later he would set the fastest time descending an horrendous 80 foot drop at the top of the quarry. His Linea Solutions KTM 450 set the second fastest time. Several riders came to grief on the hill where tyre selection was less important than body armour selection. For many. parachute selection would have been the preferred option. David Knight was the first across the line at the end of the lap one followed closely by Michael Brown on his Beta - the trials bike had a real advantage in the tight technical going. Wayne Braybrook was 3rd & Taddy Blazusiak was 4th. Paul Edmondson & Gordon Crockard were heading toward the line side by side until Gordon snagged a log and cartwheeled into the woodwork gifting Eddy the 5th place on his aptly named Relentless Suzuki. Rob Warner retired when the shoulder injury he sustained in September became too painful to continue. Above the start, the pits re-sounded to the sounds of the Anvil Chorus as Jason Thomas & Craig Bounds hammered buckled discs back into shape. Darren Wheeler's Husaberg was totally buckled. As the halfway point approached Michael Brown took the lead, collected his cheque & raced off to the ACU Awards Night in Northampton. At five the twilight descended & the riders switched on their headlights. It was a magical sight as the pinpoints of light rose & fell all around the amphitheatre like dancing fire flies in the early evening air. David Knight.& Taddy Blazusiak extended their lead in the darkness to lap the rest of the field with 14 laps. On 13 laps, Wayne Braybrook took 3rd & Paul Edmondson was 4th. Local riders Tom Sagar & Paul Bolton were 5th & 6th. Proving their adaptability French rally rider Cyril Despres was 7th & Irish MXer Gordon Crockard was 8th. With his first WEC season ahead of him, Greg Evans has been practicing hard on his extreme technique, practice which paid off when he finished 9th & with a welcome return to top line competition, Juan Knight was 10th. Also congratulations to Rob Pollard from Devon who manhandled his KTM 300 around the Nantmawr quarry 11th times to win the Experts class by 3 laps & to Kev Rogers who - despite a sickening crash - went on to finish. Young expert Bradley King had a super tough weekend. He left his home in Dorset at 5pm on Friday night & got within 10 miles from Oswestry by 9.30pm when his van engine went bang. His only option was to accept National breakdown tow back home to Dorset - arriving at 3am - to swap all his gear into a second van & drive back to arrived at Nantmawr quarry to arrive at 8.30am. Brad had about 1 hours sleep & he was exhausted but he stuck to the task & finished 10th. At the Awards Ceremony Taddy congratulated David - his D3 Racing team mate - & reminded him they were all square so their next contest should be a cracker. A great day full of fireworks finished with display of even more as a battery of rockets exploded in the night sky over Nantmawr. Results Tough One Speed Trial Clubmen Knighter report John Shirt's report Rally RAIDio reports including interviews with Cyril Despres David Knight Tom Sagar Craig Bounds Greg Evan's report
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The morning clubman race was won by Kevin Harris from Devon.
Thomas Hicks was 2nd & Joe Deakin was 3rd. Behind Michael Brown
in the Trials Sprint were Graham Jarvis in 2nd & Alex Wigg 3rd
(left).
